13 things you didn’t know about Paul Rudd

Paul Rudd’s parents are British.

Paul Rudd poses with his mother in 2010. Matthew Peyton/Getty Images

Paul Rudd was born on April 6, 1969, in Passaic, New Jersey. However, his mother was originally from Surbiton, England, and his father was from Edgware.

Rudd’s father, Michael Rudd, worked as a tour guide and served as the vice president of Trans World Airlines, according to the Irish Post. His father died of cancer in 2008.

His mother, Gloria Irene Granville, was a sales manager at the television station KCMO-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, before becoming vice president of a speaker series, the Chat Series, in Kansas City, according to Fox 4.

Rudd has spoken about his British roots and even told First We Feast’s Sean Evans on an episode of “Hot Ones” that McVittie’s Digestives are his favorite cookie.

Rudd recently learned his parents are second cousins.

Paul Rudd, his sister Mandi Rudd, and his mother in 1998. Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images

On a 2019 episode of “Finding Your Roots,” which invites celebrities to learn more about their genealogy, Rudd was told by host Henry Louis Gates Jr. that his parents are actually related. 

Despite not expecting to receive such groundbreaking news, Rudd had a sense of humor about the findings.

“[That] explains why I have six nipples,” Rudd told Gates Jr., according to NJ.com.

Paul Rudd’s parents are also Jewish.

Paul Rudd. Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

“I was always in new schools and had British parents, which was not the norm, and I think there was also … I’m not particularly religious, but I was born Jewish and I always felt like the outsider because I wasn’t Christian or Catholic,” he told the Guardian in 2015.

He said he learned early on that he would be accepted at school if he joked about himself.

Rudd was on Forbes’ highest-paid actors list in 2019 after earning $41 million — but he wasn’t always confident in himself.

Paul Rudd attends the “Ant-Man And The Wasp” premiere in Tokyo on August 21, 2018. Koki Nagahama/Getty Images

“I think all kids are strange in their own way,” he told Elle in 2018. “And I embraced eccentricity at an early age. I didn’t feel cool.”

Rudd explained that he “had really rough skin” and that he “dressed like the height of ’80s fashion — but the bad version of it.”

“When ‘Pretty in Pink’ came out, so many kids in high school saw it and said, ‘You remind me so much of this guy Duckie.’ I was so psyched about that,” he said.

According to Forbes, Rudd was the ninth-highest earning actor of the year between 2018 and 2019.

He grew up loving comic books.

Paul Rudd attends the Los Angeles Global Premiere for Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man And The Wasp” in 2018. Jesse Grant/Getty Images

“I’m now getting asked about the comics I read as a kid [because of Ant-Man], but the comics I loved were the Beano and Dandy: Desperate Dan, the Bash Street Kids, [and] Dennis the Menace,” he told the British news outlet the Guardian in 2015. “You say ‘Dennis the Menace’ in America and it’s a totally different thing.”

He attended a three-month program at the British American Drama Academy at Oxford University in 1993.

Oxford University. David Madison / Contributor/ Getty Images

While attending the British American Drama Academy for a three-month midsummer workshop, Rudd helped to produce shows, including the Globe Theater’s production of Howard Brenton’s “Bloody Poetry,” according to Biography.

Rudd also starred in “Hamlet,” directed by Academy Award-winning actor Ben Kingsley, while abroad.

“I loved it. I loved working on Shakespeare,” Rudd told ShortList in 2018. “I loved living in the dorms at Oxford. I loved walking the campus. I loved getting tea. I loved memorizing the lines. I loved working on the plays. My hair was down to the middle of my back. I was enthusiastic and optimistic and taking everything in. It was joyous.”

Rudd got his first big break by playing Josh in the 1995 hit movie “Clueless.”

Paul Rudd as Josh in “Clueless.” CBS/Getty Images

The actor starred as Cher Horowitz’s motivated former stepbrother Josh, and immediately captivated the audience’s attention. It was also Rudd’s first major movie role and would prove a catalyst in his career as an actor.

“Driving on and seeing those [Paramount] arches that I’d seen in movies growing up was … brand new,” he told Entertainment Tonight in 2019. “I very clearly have the memory of ‘wow, I’m driving onto the Paramount lot.'”

However, he originally wanted to play Christian, Cher’s first love interest who turns out to be gay.

Paul Rudd (left) and Justin Walker (right) in “Clueless.” CBS/Getty Images

While we can’t imagine Rudd playing anyone other than Cher’s “Baldwin” brother Josh, he almost auditioned for two other roles in the movie.

Rudd was initially intrigued by the character description, which described Christian as a “cool gay kid.” The actor also expressed interest in auditioning for Murray, a role that ended up being played by Donald Faison.

Rudd said his role in “Wet Hot American Summer” helped him hone his comedy skills.

Paul Rudd in “Wet Hot American Summer.” Universal

“It was the most fun ever,” he told Vulture in 2010. “We were all friends. We all stayed and lived on the camp. Up until that movie, I had never worked on any comedy that was really my own sense of humor. I mean, ‘Clueless’ is smart, but ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ was the first subversive thing I ever got to do.”

Rudd and his wife, Julie Yaeger, have been married since 2003.

Paul Rudd and his wife, Julie Yaeger, in 2020. VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images

Rudd and his wife, publicist-turned-screenwriter Julie Yaeger, have managed to stay largely out of the spotlight during their nearly 20-year-long marriage. 

“I don’t think I’m going to sell a lot of tabloids,” he told Elle in 2011. “My wife [Julie] and I have been together for 16 years. My parents were married my whole life until my father passed away a few years ago.”

The pair share two children, 15-year-old Jack Sullivan Rudd and 11-year-old Darby Rudd.

Rudd is a major Kansas City sports fan.

Paul Rudd looks on before Super Bowl LIV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers in 2020. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Rudd moved to Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb outside of Kansas City, when he was just 10 years old. Ever since, Rudd has been a staunch supporter of Kansas City sports.

He even attended the University of Kansas and was in the arena to watch the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers in the 2020 Super Bowl.

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Paul Rudd after being honored with a Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 1, 2015. Jesse Grant/Getty Images

After receiving his star in 2015, Rudd spoke about the milestone – in his own comedic way.

“I remember being a kid and walking this boulevard and reading the names and thinking about what so many other millions of people thought about, which is, ‘Who’s that?'” Rudd joked at the ceremony, according to a local news station. “The fact that millions of people are going to be able to now see me and ask that same question … is humbling beyond belief.”